When it Comes to Microplastic Pollution, is the Aquaculture Industry a Victim or Perpetrator?

Ece Kılıç; Erkan Uğurlu; Nebil Yücel

doi:10.2478/aoas-2025-0033

When it Comes to Microplastic Pollution, is the Aquaculture Industry a Victim or Perpetrator?

Annals of Animal Science

Volume 26 (2026): Issue 1 (January 2026)

By: Ece Kılıç , Erkan Uğurlu and Nebil Yücel

Open Access

|Jan 2026

Figures & Tables

Sources of MPs in environment together with fate and transport mechanisms

Results of bibliometric analysis: (A) The number of publications by journals, (B) Word cloud of keywords in publications, (C) Contribution network of the countries, and (D) Number of published studies by years

Table 1.

Literature summary regarding microplastic abundance in aquaculture environments

Location	Environment (Water or Sediment)	MP abundance	Main color	Main shape	Main size (µm)	Polymer	References
Vancouver Island, Canada	Water	0.63±0.68 MPs/L	Blue	Fiber	1000−5000		Covernton et al., 2019
Vancouver Island, Canada	Sediment	19.97±23.74 MPs/kg	Clear	Fiber	1000−5000		Covernton et al., 2019
Ionian Sea	Water			Film, Fragment	1000−5000	PE, PS, EAA, EVA, PEO, PP	Miserli et al., 2023
Cadiz, Spain	Water	9.54±6.81 MPs/L		Fiber		PE, PP, HDPE	Egea-Corbacho et al., 2023
Lianyungang, China	Water in pond aquaculture	6.47±0.30 MPs/L	Black-gray	Fiber	0–1000	CP, PE, PP, PET, PS, PVC, PA, PMMA, PAM, PTFE	Song et al., 2023
Lianyungang, China	Water in industrial aquaculture	2.06±0.59 MPs/L	Black-gray	Fiber	0–1000	PET, PE, PP, CP, PA, PAN	Song et al., 2023
Yangtze River Delta, China	Water	4.4–10.8 MPs/L	Blue	Fiber	1000−3000	PE, PET, PP, PS, PE	Yu et al., 2023
Yangtze River Delta, China	Sediment	0.286–0.543 MPs/g dw	Blue	Fiber	100–300	PE, PET, PP, PS	Yu et al., 2023
Lianyungang, China	İnland aquaculture mode	6.03±4.95 MPs/L	Black-gray	Fiber		PE, PP, PET, PA, PS, PAN, PVC, PTFE, PAM	Song et al., 2024
	Marine aquaculture pond	2.37±1.83 MPs/L	Blue-green	Fiber		PET, CP, PE, PP, PS, PA, PP-PE, PVC, PEU
	Coastal aquaculture mode	~4.0±2.0 MPs/L	Black-gray	Fiber		PE, PET, PA, PP, PS, PVC, PTFE, PEU, PAN
Portugal	Water, RAS	6.10±2.33 MPs/L	Black	Fiber	150–499	cellulose/rayon, phenoxy resins, PAM, nylon, PET, PAN, PTFE	Matias et al., 2024
Fiji Island	Water	2.9 ± 0.4 MPs/L		Fiber	500−900	nitrile, nylon, PE, PP, PU, PVA, PVC	Dehm et al., 2022
Fiji Island	Sediment	0.022 ± 0.01 MPs/g dw		Fiber	500−900	nitrile, nylon, PE, PP, PU, PVA, PVC	Dehm et al., 2022
Malaysia	Water	1.28±0.15 MPs/L	Transparent	Fiber	50−500	Nylon, PE, PS, PP	Hossain et al., 2023
Malaysia	Sediment	47.5±11.875 MPs/g	Transparent	Fiber	1000−5000		Hossain et al., 2023
China	Water	5.82±0.75 MPs/L		Fiber	500−1000	PET, CP, PE, PA, PP, PE/PP	Du et al., 2022
Thailand	Water	41.5±6.0 MPs/L		Fragment	50−300	HDPE, PET, PS, PES, Ethylene/propylene copolymer	Imasha and Babel, 2022
Thailand	Sediment	474.6±102.6 MPs/kg		Fragment	50−300	HDPE, LDPE, linen, PET, PP	Imasha and Babel, 2022

Microplastic abundance in the digestive organs of aquacultured species

Table 2.

Literature summary regarding microplastic abundance in biota from aquaculture facilities

Phylum/Class	Location	Species	FO (%)	MPs/ind	MPs/g	Main color	Main shape	Main size (µm)	Polymer	References
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Mollusca/Bivalvae	Xiangshan Bay	Ostrea denselamellosa	66.7	1.67±0.44	0.31 (ww)		Fiber	500−1000	Cellulose (main), PA,	Wu et al., 2020
		Sinonovacula constricta	80.0	1.8±0.34	0.21 (ww)		Fiber	0−500	acrylonitrile, PP, PE, PET
	Canada	Venerupis philippina		0.10±0.10	0.16±0.18 (dw)	Clear-blue	Fiber	100−500;	PP, polyolefin, PES, nylon	Covernton et al., 2019
		Crassostrea gigas		0.13±0.16	0.02±0.03 (dw)	Clear-blue	Fiber	500−1000
	Baynes Sound, British Columbia	Venerupis philippinarum		8.4±8.5	1.7±1.2 (ww)	Colourless	Fiber			Davidson and Dudas, 2016
	Hainan, China	Perna viridis		0.36±0.81		White	Foam	<1 mm	PS, PE	Lin et al., 2022
	North Ionian Sea	Mytilus galloprovincialis		16±1.7					PE, EEA, EVA	Miserli et al., 2023
	Thailand (from market)	Tegillarca granosa		11±5	1±0		Fiber, Fragment	0.05–0.3	PP, PE, PP, PES	Ta et al., 2022
		Perna viridis		96±19	4±0			0.05–0.3
	Thailand (from farm)	Tegillarca granosa		6±1	1±0		Fiber, Fragment	0.05–0.3	PE, EP, PE, PES
		Perna viridis		11±7	3±2			0.05–0.4
	Malesina, Greece	Mytilus galloprovincialis			5.00±0.96		Fiber		PET, PP, PE	Manolaki et al., 2023
		Pinctada imbricata radiata			2.55±0.83
	Spain	Mytilus galloprovincialis	94	5.68±0.72		Transparent	Fiber		Cellulose acetate, styrene-acrylonitrile, PES, LDPE, PET	Alomar et al., 2022
	Todos Santos Bay, Mexico	Magallana gigas	100	1,30		Black, Blue	Fiber	>1000	PET, PAN, rayon, PA, PP, PS	Lozano-Hernández et al., 2021
	San Quintin Bay		100	0.85
	Haizhou Bay	Mercenaria mercenaria (inland)	97	12,6363636		Black-gray	Fiber	<1000	PET, PEU, PP, PVC, CP, PAN, PE, PA, PTFE, PAM, PS, PP-PE	Song et al., 2023
		Scapharca broughtonii (inland)	100	10,6333333
		Ruditapes philippinarum (coastal)	100	6,90322581
		Meretrix meretrix (coastal)	100	7,36666667
		Ruditapes philippinarum (marine)	100	4,86666667
		Scapharca broughtonii (marine)	85	3,46666667
	Bohai Sea, China	Crassostrea gigas	94	2.92±0.10	0.36±0.02 (ww)		Fiber	500–1000	CP, PET	Du et al., 2022
	Sriracha farm, Thailand	Perna viridis	3.2±1.6		2.4±0.8 (ww)		Fragment	50–300	HDPE	Imasha et al., 2023
	Phetchaburi, Thailand			1.2±0.2	0.3±0.1		Fragment	<0.3 mm	HDPE, PP, PES, linen, PET, PVC, ethylene/propylene copolymer
	Türkiye	Mytilus galloprovincialis		2.28±0.67	1.33±0.86	Black	Fiber	0.1−0.5	EPDM, EP, PS, PMP, PA, PET.	Tunçelli and Erkan, 2024
	Thailand	Crassostrea belcher		0.53–1.42 (small) 0.26–0.87 (large)			Fiber	0.5−1 mm	CP, PE, PET, PP, PS, PVC, nylon	Ruangpanupan et al., 2023
		Perna viridis		0.17–0.31 (small) 0.27–0.87 (large)			Fiber	0.5−1 mm	CP, PE, PET, PP, PS, PVC, nylon
		Tegillacar granosa		0.33–1.01 (small) 0.16–0.77 (large)			Fiber	0.5−1 mm	CP, PE, PET, PP, PS, PVC, nylon
Mollusca/Cephalopoda	Ria Formosa lagoon system	Sepia officinalis (farmed)		11–45	0.86±0.34 (dw)		Fiber		PP, LDPE, HDPE	Oliveria et al., 2020
		Sepia officinalis (wild)		27–52	2.14±1.10 (dw)		Fiber		PP, LDPE, HDPE
Arthropoda/Crustacea	Lianyımgang	Penaeus vannamei (pond)	100	10–18	1–2	Black-gray	Fiber	<1000 micron	CP, PET, PE, PP, PA, PS,	Song et al., 2024
		Penaeus vannamei (industrial)	100	8–18	~ 1	Black-gray	Fiber		PVC, PTFE, PMMA, PAM
	Yangtze Estuary, China	Chinese mitten crabs	100	23.9± 15.9		Blue	Fiber	100−300	PE, PP, PET, PS	Yu et al., 2023
	Mexico	Litopenaeus vannamei (juvenile – 7 months)	32.3±3.1	2.0±0.3		Transparent	Fiber		PE, nylon, PET, PS, PP, PA	Valencia-Castañeda et al., 2024
	Xiangshan Bay	Parapenaeopsis hardwickii	45.0	0.95±0.28	0.25 (ww)		Fiber	500−1000 µm	PA, acrylonitrile, PP, PE, PET	Wu et al., 2020
Vertebrata/Teleostei	Xiangshan Bay	Larimichthys crocea	80.0	1.8±0.42	0.01 (ww)		Fiber	0−500 µm	PA, acrylonitrile, PP, PE, PET	Wu et al., 2020
		Konosirus punctatus	90.0	2.1±0.38	0.04 (ww)		Fiber	0−500 µm	PA, acrylonitrile, PP, PE, PET	Wu et al., 2020
	Muara Kamal, Jakarta Bay	Chanos chanos		3,005	9.58±3.3		Fiber			Priscilla and Patria, 2019
	Marunda, Jakarta Bay	Chanos chanos		2.09	8.80±2.7		Fiber
	Laizhou Bay	Oplegnathus punctatus		1.50±0.58	0.21±0.14 (ww)	Blue	Fiber	20–500 μm	PA, PET, PP, PE, PVC, PS, PMMA	Zhou et al., 2024
	Laizhou Bay	Oplegnathus punctatus		2.25±0.96	0.48±0.22	Blue	Fiber	20–500 μm	PA, PET, PP, PE, PVC, PS, PMMA
	Laizhou Bay	Plectropomus leopardus		1.50±1.73	0.17±0.21	Blue	Fiber	20–500 μm	PA, PET, PP, PE, PVC, PS, PMMA
	Laizhou Bay	Plectropomus leopardus		3.00±1.83	0.19±0.14	Blue	Fiber	20–500 μm	PA, PET, PP, PE, PVC, PS, PMMA
	Dingzi Bay	Epinephelus cyanopodus		2.25±0.96	0.50±0.38	Blue	Fiber	20–500 μm	PA, PET, PP, PE, PVC, PS, PMMA
	Dingzi Bay	Epinephelus cyanopodus		2.75±1.71	0.07±0.08	Blue	Fiber	20–500 μm	PA, PET, PP, PE, PVC, PS, PMMA
	İskenderun Bay	Oncorhynchus mykiss	63	1.2±1.3		Black	Fiber	1–2.5 mm	PES, PA, PE	Kılıç, 2022
	İskenderun Bay	Sparus aurata	50	0.8±1.1		Black	Fiber	1–2.5 mm	PES, PA, PE
	Seyhan and Ceyhan River	Dicentrarchus labrax	52	0.95±1.1		Black	Fiber	0.3−0.5 mm	PES, PA, PE
	Hainan, China	Siganus guttatus		58±2.9		White	Foam	<1 mm	PS, PE, PET, PVC	Lin et al., 2022
		Plectropomus leopardus		0
		Trachinotus ovatus		0
	Canary Island, Spain	Dicentrarchus labrax	65	1.43+1.75		Blue	Fiber		Cellulose, nylon, PE, PP	Reinold et al., 2021
	North Ionian Sea	Dicentrarchus labrax seabass		22±2.1			Fiber		LDPE, PVB, PBMA, PE	Miserli et al., 2023
		Sparus aurata seabream		40±3.9			Fiber		LDPE, PVB, PBMA, EVA, PVA
	Beibu Gulf	Trachinotus ovatus			546±52	Blue or Green	Pellet, Fragment	20−200	PE, PA, PU	Liu et al., 2023
	Spain	Sparus aurata	33	2.03±0.30		Transparent	Film		HDPE, LDPE, PE	Alomar et al., 2022
	Canary Islands, Spain	Dicentrarchus labrax		5.4±4.2		Colourless	Fiber		PES, PAN, PEUR	Sánchez-Almeida et al., 2022
		Sparus aurata		5.1±5.1		Colourless	Fiber
	Huila, Colombia	Oreochromis niloticus gill		0.375			Fragment		PE, PET	Garcia et al., 2021
		Oreochromis niloticus gut		2,125					PES, PE, PET
		Oreochromis niloticus flesh		0.25					PET, PP
	Mediterranean Sea, Greece	Sparus aurata Dicentrarchus labrax	38	0.51±0.78		Black	Fiber		PP, PES, EP, PA	Mosconi et al., 2023
	Italy and Croatia	Sparus aurata		1.30		Black	Fiber	1−2 mm	PES, PE, PTFE, PAA, PA	Savoca et al., 2021
		Cyprinus carpio		0.25		Blue	Fiber	<1000 micron	PES, PE, PTFE, PAA, PA
	Turkish waters of the Aegean Sea	Dicentrarchus labrax (cage aquaculture)	89,13043478	3.2±2.3	0.18±0.13	Blue-black	Fiber		Man-made cellulose/ray-on, PET, phenoxy resin	Matias et al., 2024
	NE Atlantic coast of Portugal	Dicentrarchus labrax semi-intensive (pond aquaculture)	94	4.2±2.8	0.53±0.40	Black	Fiber		Phenoxy resin, man-made cellulose/rayon
	Portugal	Dicentrarchus labrax (RAS pilot facility)	96,36363636	4.89±2.50	0.69±0.42	Black	Fiber		Man-made cellulose/rayon, PVC, PET
	Fiji Island	Oreochromis spp.		2.7±1.4			Fiber	<1 mm	PE, PP, PU, PVA, PVC, nylon	Dehm et al., 2022
	Guangzhou, Guangdong China	Ctenopharyngodon idella	93	13±8.569	0.601	Blue	Fiber	0.5−2 mm	Olefins, acrylic, rayon, PES, PP, PE	Aiguo et al., 2022
		Hypophthalmichthys molitrix	92	9.083±4.699	0.556	Blue	Fiber	0.5−2 mm
		Cirrhinus molitorella,	88	11±10.985	0.891	Blue	Fiber	0.5−2 mm
		Oreochromis niloticus	93	9.357±7.143	1.436	Blue	Fiber	0.5−2 mm
		Pelteobagrus fulvidraco	91	6.909±4.182	3.354	Blue	Fiber	0.5−2 mm
	Haizhou Bay, China	Thryssa kammalensis		22.21±1.70		Black-gray	Fiber	0−1000 μm	CP, PP, PE, nylon, PET	Feng et al., 2019
		Amblychaeturichthys hexanema		18		Black-gray	Fiber	0−1000 μm	CP, PP, PE, nylon, PET
		Odontamblyopus rubicundus		16		Black-gray	Fiber	0−1000 μm	CP, PP, PE, nylon, PET
		Cynoglossus semilaevis		13.54±2.09		Black-gray	Fiber	0−1000 μm	CP, PP, PE, nylon, PET
		Chaeturichthys stigmatias		15		Black-gray	Fiber	0−1000 μm	CP, PP, PE, Nylon, PET
		Collichthys lucidus		15		Black-gray	Fiber	0−1000 μm	CP, PP, PE, nylon, PET

References

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aoas-2025-0033 | Journal eISSN: 2300-8733 (formerly 1642-3402) | Journal ISSN: 1642-3402

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Language: English

Page range: 131 - 145

Submitted on: Dec 4, 2024

Accepted on: Mar 3, 2025

Published on: Jan 30, 2026

Published by: National Research Institute of Animal Production

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: 4 issues per year

Keywords:

bivalve,

crustacean,

farmed fish,

environment,

microplastic occurrence

Related subjects:

Medicine,

Veterinary medicine

© 2026 Ece Kılıç, Erkan Uğurlu, Nebil Yücel, published by National Research Institute of Animal Production
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Volume 26 (2026): Issue 1 (January 2026)

When it Comes to Microplastic Pollution, is the Aquaculture Industry a Victim or Perpetrator?

Figures & Tables

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Table 1.

Figure 3.

Table 2.

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